Flooding causes closure of Greenwich Apple Store

Lisa Chamoffand John Nickerson, Greenwich Time

Lisa Chamoffand John Nickerson, Staff Writers

Updated 1:35 pm, Thursday, April 21, 2011

A woman looks a sign warning of unsafe conditions at on the Apple computer store on Greenwich Avenue on Wednesday, April 20, 2011. The store was flooded Tuesday night when a cleaning crew damaged a sprinkler.
Photo: Helen Neafsey

A woman comes to Apple on Greenwich Avenue to fix her iPhone Wednesday, finding that the store was closed, on April 20, 2011. The store was flooded Tuesday night when a cleaning crew damaged a sprinkler.
Photo: Helen Neafsey

A woman came to Apple computer store on Greenwich Avenue to fix her iPhone Wednesday, finding help even though the store was close due to flooding, on April 20, 2011. The store was flooded Tuesday night when a cleaning crew damaged a sprinkler.
Photo: Helen Neafsey

A cleaning van parked near the Greenwich Avenue Apple computer store pumped water from the store on Wednesday, April 20, 2011. The store was flooded Tuesday night when a cleaning crew damaged a sprinkler.
Photo: Helen Neafsey

Greenwich building officials have given the OK for the Apple Store on Greenwich Avenue to reopen after a cleaning-crew accident set off the store's sprinkler system and flooded the store Tuesday night.

However, when the store will reopen is still up in the air.

"According to our inspector they have some internal problem with their server which is preventing them from opening," Greenwich Building Official William Marr said in an email Wednesday afternoon. "When they will actually decide to open is now up to their management."

An Apple Store employee said Wednesday evening it is unknown when the store will reopen. The store's phone lines were also damaged in the flooding, the employee said, leading calls to the store's phone number Wednesday to be greeted with a busy signal.

Apple employees would not say how much merchandise was damaged in the incident, referring all questions to the company's media relations office. Calls to the office were not returned Wednesday.

Workers could be seen mopping up puddles inside the store around midday Wednesday. Employees directed surprised customers away, saying the store would be closed until further notice.

At 8:04 p.m. Tuesday, firefighters were called to the store at 365 Greenwich Ave. when a cleaning crew damaged a sprinkler head and activated a fire alarm, Deputy Fire Marshal Rob Natale said Wednesday morning.

Deputy Fire Chief Thomas Zack said the sprinkler head was broken in the first-floor retail area, causing substantial flooding on the first floor and two sub-basements.

Natale said many electronic and store fixtures were compromised by the flooding.

After a building official inspected the premises, the store was posted unfit for occupancy until the electrical system is tested by a certified electrician, Natale said.

Marr, the town building official, said some of the islands that display various computers and mobile devices had been flooded, though building inspectors were mainly concerned about the power sources and other electrical equipment throughout the store.

"We're not so much concerned with the computers that they have on display; we're concerned with the wiring in the building," Marr said.

Natale said firefighters were at the scene one minute after the alarm was set off by the sudden drop in water pressure in the sprinkler system. He said the sprinkler valves were quickly found in the basement and shut off by firefighters.

The Greenwich Avenue Apple Store, which opened in November 2009, has had a run of bad luck. Last December, at least five hooded thieves smashed through the glass front door of the store and made off with tens of thousands of dollars worth of equipment. No arrests have been made in the case.